After the Dawn
by Sierra Sitruc
Summary: Fifty years after Breaking Dawn. The Volturi have come to settle the score with the Cullens with Bella amongst their ranks. Can Edward still love the monster she has become?
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: After the Dawn

**By:** Sierra_Sitruc

**Genre**: Drama/Romance

**Pairings**: The usual– including Renesmee/Jacob.

**Warnings**: There is an _original character_. I know some people hate that, so I'm warning you.

**Summary**: Fifty years after Breaking Dawn. The Volturi have come to settle the score with the Cullens with Bella amongst their ranks. Can Edward still love the monster she has become?

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing but the figments of my imagination. Stephenie Meyer owns everything else.

**Author's Note**: I thought the end of Breaking Dawn was a bit cheap. Obviously the Volturi would still want to kill the Cullens…what would happen when that time came?

It's broken down into six different POVs, so be prepared for the changes. There will be three chapters total. Two POVs each chapter.

*

**Conflict**

**Renesmee**

I studied my mother's blood red eyes from across the field we were positioned in. I hadn't seen my mother with that eye color since my earliest days, 50 years ago. With immortality's aid, nothing else about her had changed either, except now she wore a dark cloak wrapped around her. In fact, even her expression was familiar. It had been etched in her face for weeks during that period of my childhood when Aro, Caius, and Marcus had wanted to kill me. She had once held my life above anything else.

Not anymore.

Bella Cullen, my mother, stood to the right of Aro, Caius, and Marcus. As a member of the Volturi guard.

On one side of me, was Jacob Black, my husband of almost 40 years. On the other was my father, Edward Cullen. His eyes looked haunted as he, like me, stared at my mother.

Most precious of all, was the child crushed between Jake and I. Our child: the most vulnerable and innocent being of the unusual family I belonged to.

If not for the fact that my mother now wanted to help murder everyone I held dear, I would feel a kinship with her in this moment. I suppose now that I had lost my cute innocence over the past 50 years of my life, her own life had taken precedence above all else. She had protected me as I now protected my son, William Edward, named for Jake and mine's fathers.

Back then, however, my mother had been the key to saving us from the Volturi. Now she was the key to sentencing us to death.

Even now, staring at her blank, crimson eyes, I looked for any sign that it was an act. With all the evidence against it, I still wanted to believe that my mother was pretending. That she loved us more than her own life, just like the locket I wore around my neck was inscribed with.

I stopped my train of thought as my Grandfather Carlisle approached Aro in representation of the large crowd of friends gathered around us, in this weak attempt to overthrow the Volturi before we all died quickly and - with Alec's help - painlessly.

The Volturi did not bring witnesses this time. A mistake they had learned from the hard way, last time. Some of those same witnesses now stood beside us - against the Volturi.

A show of their confidence, I noted while watching Carlisle edge his way slowly toward the Volturi, was that they had brought less numbers than before. Naturally, the most powerful of the guard was there, but with Bella on their side, it was almost icing on the cake. Alec would blind us before we could even get to them.

"Carlisle, it hurts me deeply to meet you once again on such unhappy terms," Aro said. "When your daughter came to me, I could hardly believe the story she told us. A child who was part shape-shifter, part vampire, _and_ part human? Does it turn into a puppy?" Aro paused to laugh delightedly. "My, my, Carlisle, it is hard to imagine such an unusual creature you've helped breed, so I came to see it for myself."

Jake and I both growled at the connotations the word _breed_ dripped with.

Aro hadn't stopped his introduction. "Obviously, I could not live the story through dear Bella's memories – her head is still untouchable to my gift."

My mother had obviously not told him the little known fact that she could now easily lift the barrier that naturally protected her from attacks through the mind. Of course, only my father had been trusted with her thoughts on occasion.

"Please." Carlisle pleaded. "The child means no harm to anyone. We have taught him our ways…he relies on secrecy to protect himself just as much as we do."

"I think we both know, old friend, that there is only one result for the evening," Aro said plainly.

The Volturi guard crouched into position. I tightened my arms around my son, praying against fate that my mother's unfeeling eyes would change. I wished she'd end her protections _against_ us and put them _around_ us.

My father whispered two words, "Please, Bella."

*

**Visions**

**Edward**

"Happy fiftieth anniversary!" Alice squealed, throwing flower petals into the air at Bella and me as we walked through the door. Bella winced beside me as she realized the party was solely about us.

Some things never changed. Bella would never like being the center of attention. Or parties.

"Surprise!" Everyone was shouting. Everyone, was not what we'd been expecting.

Carlisle and Esme were the only one's we had been expecting. It was there house, after all. We had come only to visit them.

However, Alice and Jasper were down from Canada where they had been living for the past few years. Rosalie and Emmett had been living as nomads, a honeymoon of sorts. Last I heard they'd been hunting polar bears. Seeing them here was a great surprise – how did they manage to orchestrate this surprise reunion? Did they get reception for cell phones where polar bears lived? I wondered.

Finally, three people I knew Bella always loved to see: the Blacks. Renesmee, Jacob, and Will. Will was the newest member in our growing family and the youngest.

"Gran!" Will yelled excitedly. He ran towards Bella, jumping into her strong arms. He was getting a little big for that, though, naturally, Bella was probably capable of picking him up even if he grew to the size of his father.

Will then turned his attention to me. "Gramps!"

I gazed into his brown eyes, the same as his mother's, the same as my wife's once were, and her father who had passed away only a few years ago. Yet, Will had his father's smile, bright and careless.

Will reminded me of Renesmee when she was small for those few short years – everyone fell in love with them. Not that everyone didn't fall in love with Renesmee at present, just that Jacob would strangle anyone who looked at her oddly.

The major difference was that Will was growing much slower. Faster than a human – Renesmee was pregnant only half the time a human woman was with him. That pace seemed to stay consistent with the rest of his growth. Always doubly fast than what a human child would have.

Right now he looked about six, but was only three years old.

I let him jump down from my arms and tugged on his curly black hair playfully when he tried to run back to his parents.

"We haven't seen you in two weeks and this is how you treat your grandparents?" I teased him.

"Gramps, it's time for presents! And cake!" He cheered. Jacob was the only one to celebrate with him. The rest of us would have preferred a mountain lion, or grizzly bear, to a good piece of cake. Will could drink blood just as well as he could eat human food. It was the strangest thing about him. He saw no difference in the food, unlike his mother who had always preferred blood.

Shaking my thoughts away from my grandson, the party began. There were presents, stories from abroad, and laughter.

I realized it had been two and half years since we had been all together. Ever since Alice had seen a threat from Aro that our coven had grown to such an enormous size (eleven) we had decided to split into couples. It had warded Aro off, voiding his excuse to downsize our coven.

Everyone had scattered to the winds after Alice's vision. Esme and Carlisle were now living in Alaska, far from where Bella and I had settled in the outskirts of Chicago. Unable to separate from Renesmee, Jacob, and six month-old Will, the Blacks had come with us. We were trying to maintain distance from the Blacks while still being able to visit each other frequently.

"Will, we have presents for you, too!" Rosalie surprised him. Rosalie had always happily spoiled her grand-nephew. Her contempt for Jacob had faded to mild dislike over the past 50 years.

"But my birthday isn't until April." That was the only protest Will managed before he was ripping into presents from his various relatives. Any chance to spoil Will was always taken advantage of by the Cullens.

Will was just starting to unwrap a present from Esme and Carlisle when I saw the vision from Alice. She gasped like she was in physical agony. Jasper twitched at the sound, but held still.

Everyone in the room had frozen. The laughter stopped. Will had his fingers wedged between bits of wrapping paper, unmoving.

Very clearly in Alice's mind, I could see Aro, Caius, and Marcus watching as Demetri and Felix went straight for Bella in a field full of our family and allies. I could see myself, stepping in front of Bella, being ripped into a hundred pieces. Next, I saw Bella being shredded like a paper doll. Then, very quickly I watched as my sweet, innocent grandson was attacked, but Jacob and Renesmee went down in his defense. Their deaths were not so clean as my Bella's…too much human blood ran through their bodies…

Murder after Murder, I watched as my family succumbed to death in the name of protecting the most innocent of all of us. In the end, our family had fought valiantly, destroying Felix, Demetri, and a few new members of the guard.

It hadn't been enough. In the end, we were finished in a bonfire of corpses.

"Oh, god." Alice whispered.

"What is it?" Will asked, confused. His question started an onslaught of more questions from the rest of the family.

I looked to Alice. Her mind was going over the vision again and again.

"They're coming. This time for sure," I explained when I realized Alice would not be able to.

"When?" Bella questioned. Her amber eyes, full of terror, looked into mine, searching.

After relaying the vision to the rest of the family, even young Will, there was only one main consensus.

It was Jasper's hopeless voice that spoke it aloud. "We're done for."

Indeed, for the first time, there was no hope for survival. No matter what I heard Carlisle, Esme, or even Renesmee say, I could hear their thoughts. Not one person, except young Will who could barely grasp the idea of the danger, had hope.

I pulled Bella to me, burying my face in her hair. I wanted to protect her, to save her and my family. Yet the vision showed that I would be the first to fall. Leaving her helpless in her position - she was not able to fight well and concentrate on shielding at the same time.

I could not stop myself from protecting her, even if that meant my death. I could not bear to die if she would be unprotected without me. Two things that certainly did not coexist in Alice's vision.

I should have known what part of the vision that would stay with Bella most.

When the Blacks had gone off to sleep, the vampires paired off in couples to speak privately. Bella and I ran out into the nearby wooded area, lying down together on the cold ground beneath a large tree. There was no privacy in Carlisle and Esme's beautiful, but small home. The forest was our only shot at it.

We were silent, just holding each other for a long time. I tried to think of something, anything that could save my family, save any of us at all. I kept coming up empty-handed. It was torture to know that I could do nothing.

I was lost in these thoughts for hours.

"Edward?"

Bella had finally broken the silence.

"Yes, love?"

"Maybe…instead of trying to protect me, you should just let them get me." Bella was hesitant as she spoke.

"You're asking me to do something that's impossible," I answered without a thought.

"Please, just listen to me for a minute," Bella began.

It gave me an idea, "Let me _hear_ you, love." I admit, I had never stopped enjoying her thoughts. They were the most precious I had ever heard. Plus, it might give me some insight into what mad ideas her brain had come up with now. How could I not protect her? It was like asking me to stop loving her.

"There's nothing in my head you want to hear tonight, Edward," Bella answered.

Undeterred, I urged her to continue. "Explain to me then."

"I just thought…maybe if we acted in the exact opposite way we were supposed to. Things could turn out differently."

I considered her suggestion. "I could never _not_ protect you, Bella. End of discussion."

"Never?" Bella echoed.

"Never." I said fervently.

She smiled sadly at me. "I guess I am the same. I will always want to protect you."

We were silent again until morning.

*

"Well, this at least means we can all be together now," Esme said, hugging me as Bella and I rejoined the family in the house. I almost laughed at Esme's poor attempt at being positive. Even Esme, who had suffered, perhaps more than all of us, from being away from her family, would rather never see any of us again, if it meant we could all avoid the tragedy ahead.

We huddled together like the attack was right upon us. In truth, we were unsure when it was coming. I knew from reading Alice's mind that there was too much indecision in the matter which must be decided before the actual day was set.

"Renesmee?" My ears tuned in to listen to the love of my life.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"What do you think about going out with me to hunt? I miss taking my little girl out to hunt." Bella's voice was strained as she spoke.

"Yeah, I am rather thirsty…Jake, honey, is that okay?" Renesmee asked.

Jacob gave her a watery smile. "I know I'm whipped. Do what you want." He waved her away in an attempt to cover up what he was really thinking – that he'd rather go with her than stay behind. However, I knew he would bravely stay behind. The attack would not come soon and definitely not today.

While Bella and Renesmee said their goodbyes, I watched as Bella's face repeatedly puckered like it did when she wished she could cry. I stood up to comfort her, only to be brushed off. "It's nothing, Edward."

"Nothing?" I asked, quirking my eyebrow.

"Nothing." She turned her attention to the rest of the room. "Bye, everyone!" Bella called, before grabbing me close and kissing me with a passion that was usually reserved for our nightly activities…It ended all too soon. "Goodbye, Edward."

"Goodbye, Bella." I replied. I couldn't resist one more kiss. Then she flitted away to leave. I felt a moment of panic as she walked out the door, but I figured it was affiliated with the stress of the pending attack from the Volturi.

I could handle Bella leaving to hunt, I persuaded myself. I had hunted only two days ago, while Bella had chosen to abstain in lieu of finishing a new book. She would be back soon, I attempted to assure myself. She needed to hunt.

"_Edward, want to play chess?"_ Alice proposed. I turned to her. She was watching Emmett and Jacob watch a sports game. They were cheering for different sides, while Jasper took bets on who would win. Everyone was trying so hard to act normal.

Carlisle and Esme were talking quietly, but intensely, while watching over Will. He was enjoying himself with his new presents. He seemed perfectly at ease in his naïveté to our impending death. He didn't understand death with his immortal family.

I could tell Alice's offer of chess was a distraction – one I was happy to take.

We couldn't all be Will.

I listened half-heartedly to Alice's moves as she predicted our moves through the game.

"Ha! I win!" Alice grinned up at me. I knocked over my king in defeat, but I was confused when her face fell. That's when I started paying better attention to her thoughts.

I saw Bella.

Bella in a dark cloak. Her eyes the same red as the other vampires around her: the Volturi.

"Alice," I croaked, "What does that mean?"

Her eyes were still blank as she searched the future. She was trying to find where Bella was now…but she was with Renesmee.

_Hiding_, I realized with shock. She'd used Renesmee to get herself as far away from us as possible before she made up her mind and ran for it. Alice wouldn't be able to see Bella as long as she was close to Renesmee.

"Keep looking, Alice." I heard a crack, not noticing that it was the table in my hands. The chess board fell to the ground, the pieces scattering everywhere.

Abruptly we could see Bella running through the forest. She must have enough distance from Renesmee to be seen by Alice. Bella was probably outstripping the half-human Renesmee with ease. There was no way we could catch her, either. They'd driven several miles away in the car before even starting out on foot. There were at least 20 miles away from the house.

Then the vision took an even darker turn.

Bella enveloped in Aro's arms in a hug. I hissed angrily.

Bella talking strategy with the Volturi. Explaining all our weaknesses. Explaining our greatest secret of all: William.

Bella drinking blood from a human for the first time.

I felt dizzy with all the visions that flashed across my mind.

The images shifted, back to where Bella was now, going swiftly through the forest. She was chanting something.

"_Edward, read the note, read the note. Edward, read the note…_"

"Note?" I muttered, standing up. I couldn't look at anyone. I was nearly mindless as I ran to my car. I flung open the door, ripping off the handle in the process. I grappled around inside, looking for a note from Bella.

Nothing.

I pulled the keys from my pocket and was turning the ignition when Jacob opened the door.

"_Renesmee._" Was his most prominent thought. Renesmee who might still be chasing after her mother. Alice would be unable to see if she was.

I nodded, waiting for him to close the door before furiously backing out of the driveway and getting out on the highway. I had to check the other car – Renesmee and Jacob's car. The one they had taken to go hunting in.

I was going well over 100 miles an hour, passing cars hurriedly, before making a wild turn down a deserted dirt road where I saw the Black's car sitting.

I jumped out of my car in a flash and was in the other car searching for the note. I think I broke the handle on that car, too. I found the note right under the sun visor of the passenger seat.

My breath came out roughly, I barely acknowledged Jacob telling me he was going after Renesmee.

I read the note, my dead heart shriveling with each word.

_Edward,_

_DO NOT come after me._

_I love you, but after all these years, I finally realized that I love myself more. Love my immortality more. I don't want to die. I hope you can understand that. I'd rather be responsible for killing you all than die. I know I will survive if I offer my services to the Volturi. Don't take it personally., I just know they will protect me._

_I will do _anything_ to survive._

_Bella_

*

**Author's Note**: The next two chapters are finished and will be posted over the next few days. They may come up faster if I get a lot of reviews…Constructive criticism welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

*

**Betrayal**

**Jane**

When the brat showed up, I was sure Aro would have Felix and Demetri take care of her immediately.

I should have known better.

Aro had always liked this _Bella_. Just thinking of her made me want to spit venom in her face. Hadn't she been instrumental in our humiliating defeat in the effort to acquire the one with the visions?

I growled as Aro spoke with her, embraced her, even. How could he trust this strange girl with her amber eyes? Her head was silent to him. Immune to Alec and myself. Even Demetri had been unable to track her. She could be deceiving him with every word.

"Alice has seen an attack." Bella told him. I stomped my foot, cracking the stone beneath. She ignored me. "She sees the guard killing all of the Cullens and their allies."

"And yourself, Mrs. Cullen?"

"That was what she saw before I decided not to fight against you. I realized my immortality means too much to me. I am hoping that my family will see reason and want to join you as well, though I am prepared to kill them if it will result in keeping my own life."

I am sure no one in the room could hide their shock. Even Marcus looked mildly appalled – a serious stretch for him. Marcus had once told us that the Cullens had tighter bonds than any coven he had ever seen. Chelsea, with her similar gift, had noted that trying to change their bonds would be impossible. For Bella Cullen to break from that bond was astounding.

My suspicion grew.

"Yes, dear, I can understand valuing your immortality. It is a most precious thing." Aro sounded amused at Bella's announced betrayal. Entertained, maybe. Hopefully, Aro was thinking what I was: that if Bella could betray her mate, she could just as easily betray the Volturi.

"It is not just my immortality I have come to speak with you about," Bella said. "I have the greatest of shames to admit to you about my own daughter."

"Oh, yes, Renesmee. Delightful creature, how is she?"

"She is quite fine. Since you last met her she has taken a mate." She pondered her next words for several seconds. "First, I must explain. We thought it impossible for her to bear children. She was half-vampire and as you know, they cannot have children. Much less with the type of husband she has chosen."

Bella paused. The entire guard was listening with rapt attention. I must admit that even I have wondered about the possibilities that the half-vampire child had.

Aro asked the question we were all thinking, "She had a _child_?"

The brat jutted out her chin. "Yes. A boy. His father is one of the shape-shifters."

I snarled at the obvious disgrace and vulgarity of such a relationship. A vampire – half or not had mated with a nasty wolf creature?

"Fascinating, positively fascinating!" Aro cried out joyously. "Such things we have never seen! Never imagined! Does the boy shape-shift as well?"

"No, we are not sure if he will. Most of the shape-shifters did not transform until they were much older than him. He grows twice as fast a human child, and is three years old, but the size of a six year-old. It will be many more years before we would know if he could transform." Bella informed him.

My suspicion wavered for a moment. She was giving us the perfect excuse to attack the Cullens. Perhaps she truly did not care what happened to her coven.

"I see, I see…" Aro was thoughtful. "The shape-shifters are wild, unpredictable. One with vampire and human blood would be…dangerous."

Bella nodded, "I thought exactly the same thing. I held back my thoughts to my family on the matter. They were all so overjoyed, but I always thought there was something wrong with him. Unnatural."

"Yes, yes…We must strengthen ourselves and ready ourselves to attack them."

"The father of the child would call the last of the shape-shifters to his side should you attack. There are only a few of them left that still keep their wolf form, but he would ask for their aid."

"That is…good information." Caius murmured. I realized at that moment that he had already given the odd girl his approval. She had given him what we all wanted: a reason to destroy the Cullens.

"Still, you did not have to come to us, Mrs. Cullen –" Bella held up her hand to stop him.

When she spoke it was sharp and agitated. "Please don't call me that. I can hardly think of myself as a Cullen at this point. Call me Bella."

"Bella, I still do not understand why, after all your previous inclinations, you choose to come to us now."

"Oh, I suppose I haven't gotten to that part yet." She flashed him a smile and I felt another growl in my chest. I had always been Aro's favorite. I did not appreciate her trying to win him over.

"Do go on, dear," Aro encouraged.

"I have come to offer my services as a shield, to you and your guard. In return for protection. Alice will have seen my betrayal of their trust. I fear they may want to…" The daring brat searched for a word. "Punish me."

"Hmm." Aro stroked his chin, pensive. "I see your dilemma."

The guard stirred with interest. We had only brought in a few new members of the guard over the past half a century and they were all mates for more important members of the guard. They only added to our total number. Bella would be a _gifted_ addition.

I scowled and hissed in aggravation. I did not want to think of this brat, who dared to defy my gift, as a fellow member of the guard. She did not deserve the honor.

"Let my brothers and I confer, it should not take long," Aro reassured her.

Bella gave him another smile. "I'll be waiting."

Felix and Demetri escorted her to the waiting area. They shouldn't have, because the Volturi were in agreement before they had hardly shut the door behind them.

Bella Cullen was now an official member of the Volturi guard.

*

"A celebration is in order, my children," Aro announced, "To recognize our newest friend, Bella."

I pouted. It was more like a disaster for me than a celebration. I didn't care what good she would do us. Invincibility meant nothing to me if I had to work with _her_. Thankfully, my wonderful brother, Alec, was in agreement. She was as frustrating to him as to me. He put a comforting arm around me.

"Heidi brings us a grand feast tonight."

All right, I decided, maybe I could find some positives out of the situation. It had been far too long since we'd last fed.

"Bella, I will be most disappointed if you do not join in." Aro told her.

"I have never tasted human blood before. I have no plans to do so now." Bella replied stiffly. I smirked. The perfect brat wasn't so perfect after all.

"Oh, come now, Bella. Live a little, so to speak. This is what we are made for. Your coven is no longer your coven; you do not follow their fanatical morals."

Bella cocked her head to the side, considering his words, I guessed. "True. I suppose I could try it this once."

I was beginning to hate how much she had successfully surprised me tonight.

Later, when dinner arrived with Heidi. I watched as Bella calculatingly studied her prey, while I was already in the middle of drinking my own. She chose a young one, snapping her neck as she did so. Maybe trying to make it less painful for her, I chuckled to myself.

It was at that moment I knew her betrayal to her family was complete. I witnessed her amber eyes change to a vivid red when her headed lift from the girl in front of her. She wore no expression on her face. It was entirely blank.

Either because I was morbidly curious or feeling sadistic as always, I found myself sidling up to her. It bothered her I believe, because her nose wrinkled.

"Enjoy your first meal?" I asked, trying to come off pleasant - a difficult task for me when it comes to this shield girl.

"It was…enlightening." She shrugged.

"Don't feel bad for enjoying it," Felix laughed. "It's who we are."

Bella didn't reply.

Felix and I left her to enjoy what was left of dinner.

*

**Faith**

**William Edward**

It's been two days since Gran left and Gramps hasn't moved from his spot in the woods. It smelled like Gran had been there once, when I visited him. Mom says that's why he won't leave. Dad says Gramps has finally lost it. Whatever that means.

"When's Gran coming back?" I finally asked. Everyone had been speaking so fast and quiet in front of me, that I was struggling to understand. It wasn't the quiet that was hard for me, it was the speed.

I took in their expressions cautiously. Mom looked sad. Dad, Uncle Jasper, and Uncle Emmett just looked pained. Grandma Esme's face furrowed oddly. Grandpa Carlisle looked more like Mom. Auntie Rose looked angry, but I didn't know why. Auntie Alice hid her face in Uncle Jasper's chest.

"When?" I repeated.

In a sharp tone, Aunt Rose answered me. "The Gran you know is gone forever," I felt my bottom lip quivering and bit down on it to keep from crying.

"_Forever?_" I asked.

"Rose," Aunt Alice hissed.

"He needs to know the truth." Aunt Rose countered. "You want to wait until Bella shows up with the Volturi? You want to wait until he watches her give the final blow that destroys us all? I certainly don't."

I tried to wrap my head around it. "Gran wants to….kills us?" It sounded silly.

"Not exactly." Mom cut in, glaring at Aunt Rose. "She just…found a way to save herself. Maybe…we should be happy one of us will live at all." Mom's face was blotchy and covered in big red tears.

Snarls erupted from Aunt Rose and Uncle Jasper. I cowered into my father's legs, who was closest to me and also farthest from the two snarling vampires.

"Don't scare him," Dad growled.

"I'm not scared," I muttered, lying.

"I would die before betraying my family." Aunt Rose hissed. The rest of them nodded along in agreement, except Mom, Dad, Grandma Esme, and Grandpa Carlisle. I don't think this was because they didn't agree, but because they didn't want to me mean to Gran.

"Maybe she's just tricking us, Dad," I whispered to him.

"Bella's not a very good actress." Aunt Alice sniffed as she said this.

"She's gotten better over the years," Grandma Esme said softly.

"You'll see," I said loudly, standing up to defend my Gran. I remembered her cool hugs, all the presents she showered me with. She told me she loved me all the time. She loved _everyone_. "She's going to come back, laughing that none of you had enough faith to believe the truth."

I stomped off, out the door to see Gramps in the woods again. He must be getting lonely.

Gramps was as still as a statue when I finally saw him.

"_Gramps?"_ I thought, trying not to startle him.

"Will." He whispered, turning his head. "Come here, son." Gramps said, patting the spot beside him. I trotted over and sat down cross-legged.

"_Do you think Gran's really gone bad_?" I asked, not wanting to wait any longer to hear what he thought.

He was quiet a long time. "It's hard not to think so, Will."

"_What do you mean?"_ I pressed.

"Will, your Gran has done things I never thought she would do. I don't think she's the same Bella I love anymore…" He drifted off. I looked up into his eyes. They were so sad I had to look away.

"_What's she done? It can't be so awful," _I wondered. Sometimes adults thought things were a lot worse than they actually were. Like when Mom threw a fit that time I called Uncle Jasper a bloodsucker – I was joking! Geeze, Mom…Plus, that's what DAD calls everybody when he thinks no one's listening.

His voice was strange when he spoke. It was like every happy feeling he'd ever had had disappeared. Adults are so silly sometimes. "She betrayed us utterly and completely."

I rolled my eyes, "_How so?"_

"She joined with our enemies. Told them our most precious secrets. Our greatest weaknesses. Drank the blood of a human." Gramps gritted his teeth painfully loud as he said this.

"_Maybe she's trying to be a spy."_ It made perfect sense to me.

"You watch too many movies." Gramps muttered.

I was disappointed. I was hoping Gramps would be on my side. He loved Gran so much. You could see it when he looked at her, talked about her, it was just like how my parents talked about me, yet…different. I didn't really understand it yet, I guess. One of those things you figure out "when you're older".

I glanced into his eyes again. The life I'd seen in them two nights ago at the surprise anniversary party was gone. Scared, I looked away again.

"You're not going to understand this, Will, but I do love her still. Because underneath I hope my Bella is still there. I pray the monster she's becoming is only temporary. More terrifying than that, I worry that I will see this new Bella and think she's the one I love. I want to protect you, Will…and the rest of the family…but what if I can't because of your Gran?" He sighed. "I thought I was finally discerning the funny ways her mind worked…then she goes and surprises me in the worst way possible."

Despite what Gramps thought, I did understand.

*

**Author's Note**: The final installment will be posted soon! Review, please! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

*****

**Clear**

**Alice**

I looked at Bella across the field. I kept praying, waiting for a change. I knew we were doomed by this point, so my efforts were all focused on her. Nothing to lose, everything to gain. All of us had done the math. If Bella changed her mind to defend us, _we_ had the advantage.

Zafrina would blind the Volturi and that would be the end of it. The destruction of the Volturi. We would finally be free.

Bella hadn't budged.

When I was focused, I could see her decisions twirling around. It made me dizzy. In one of them I actually saw her running away from the fight entirely. Avoiding choosing sides. That would be almost as good…except, maybe _all _of us would be blind. Zafrina's gift was much faster than Alec's, perhaps we would have the advantage…Kill Alec before his gift could affect us. Then again, maybe he would be unable to hold his gift if blinded. Victory would be ours.

The Volturi were crouching down, ready for attack. Carlisle had taken several paces back away from Aro. Esme, I knew from experience, would be quivering in fear that her husband was so near the danger.

"Please, Bella." I heard Edward whisper from beside me.

I tried to ignore all other thoughts and stayed focused on Bella. Her mind was abruptly leaning towards asking to keep Edward and me. I felt aghast that someone I cared so much about could choose which of us lived, which died. As if she didn't know what I would say. A life without Jasper was no life at all.

"Aro, please, may I make a request?" Bella spoke up hurriedly. I almost felt happiness at the sound of her voice, and then I squashed it down. This wasn't the Bella I loved. My dearest friend, sister. This was a true monster.

"Of course, pet." He held up a hand, warding off the attack for a few more precious moments.

"I thought we should give a couple of them a chance to join us. Spare them - my mate, if he would like. And Alice." Bella sounded careless. She was _not_ that good of an actress, I remembered. Could she really not care if Renesmee died? Will? Jacob?

"Naturally, I am open to take in anyone who is feeling particularly repentant." Aro sounded just as careless as Bella – his new favorite, obviously.

Hisses, snarls, and growls erupted all around me. Edward was especially vicious in his contempt.

"No, thank you." I answered, looking at Jasper briefly. I could tell this upset him. He wanted me to take my chance at life. But how could I? I wasn't as heartless as Bella had become. With that thought, I gave up searching for her future. There was nothing there I wanted to see anymore. Destiny had arrived. I only hoped to give my loved ones a sporting chance.

The desensitizing mist from Alec drifted towards us.

"I'd rather die." Edward growled.

"Then that's your choice." Bella said. "Mine has already been made." Her words solidified her allegiance to Aro.

"Then, I have no other choice." Aro looked around to his guard. "Dear ones." An unseen signal and they were crouched down once more.

This was it.

We charged into the mist. All of us excluding Renesmee and Jacob, who stayed in place to protect their son.

The mist would envelop us into nothingness. We would be shredded and burned and feel absolutely nothing. My feet were inches from the mist when something miraculous happened.

The mist stopped in its tracks, then began to retreat.

I looked at the faces of the Volturi guard. They looked terrified. Many of them were shaking in fear, others violently and blindly attacking imaginary images. Confused, I heard Zafrina laugh. Joy racked through my stone body. Her mirages had stopped held off Alec's maneuver.

But how? Bella was supposed to be shielding the Volturi.

"BELLA!" Aro's frightened voice rang out, "The shield!"

My eyes found Bella who was caught up in the confusion that had begun. She would be unaffected by the Zafrina, yet she did not move to attack our family and allies that stormed around her. Most of our side had not paused to take into account their good luck; they had only attacked the Volturi with the speed of a locomotive. Only a few of us had stopped in bewilderment.

Edward was not one of them. He had run to Bella immediately.

I stayed still as the future warped into something else entirely

*

**Truth**

**Bella**

An empowering feeling rushed through me when I heard the once powerful Aro scream for my help. I knew I shouldn't feel pleasure at his pain, but I did. For all the pain he had caused me throughout my existence, I felt pleasure to have our roles reversed. I was in control. His fate was in _my_ hands.

With a faint curve to the corners of my lips, I closed my eyes and waited for my death. To finally feel the end to the constant misery that had followed me since that night Alice first had her vision. I deserved to die after what I had done to my family, to Edward, to that poor human girl back in Volterra.

Everything I'd done…If the price for their lives was my own, then so be it.

I was confident that none of them would be quick enough to realize that I was the sole reason Zafrina's gift had worked before they destroyed me. Later, one of them would realize and feel a bit bad for destroying the vampire who had changed the outcome of the battle. A small bit of remorse at best was all they would manage. Who would feel remorse for a monster?

The sounds of tearing and burning filled my senses. And then…an angelic, yet livid voice.

"Don't touch her! DON'T TOUCH HER!" Edward was roaring. I opened my eyes in time to see him throwing himself in front of an angry Tanya; Tanya, who seemed intent on ending my life.

"DON'T TOUCH HER! Edward shouted, repeating himself again.

Tanya hissed furiously, before flouncing off and joining in on the attack against the other Volturi guard. The screams were hard to ignore as I examined the ongoing destruction.

The Romanians had fallen on Alec with a vengeance. It was disturbing how much the Romanians enjoyed themselves, their laughter an odd combination with the screams.

Kate had finished torturing Jane with her own medicine and was disassembling her body parts.

The last of the Quileute wolves were enjoying a last hurrah before retirement as they shredded Caius. I recognized Leah, Sam, and Collin. I'm surprised it wasn't _Leah_ attempting to mangle my body.

I nearly smiled when I saw Alice.

Alice was skipping happily around the piles of shredded bodies with lighter fluid and matches.

It was then it finally sunk in for me. The Volturi were destroyed. The Cullens were the victors. And, I looked down at myself. I was still alive.

I ripped my cloak off and threw it into a nearby fire. I considered throwing myself in, too, except suddenly warm arms were wrapped tightly around me. Kisses were being bestowed on me at a rate that was inhuman.

"Edward, please don't." I whispered. Was he deranged? Did he not think me a monster? Did he somehow not know what I had done in Volterra? All the lies, lies, lies I had been spouting since I left the Cullens…

"I can't, Bella, you have no idea how I feel at this moment." Edward gasped out, holding me to him tighter.

"You have no idea how I feel, either." I croaked. "I'm a monster, Edward." I felt even more monstrous as I was held in this angel's arms. He was everything good in my world. I was everything bad.

"No. You _saved_ us, Bella." Edward contradicted me. "You did the impossible. I don't care what you did in Volterra. I don't care."

As the billows of smoke rose around us, I chanced a glance around me. The people I had nearly died to save were standing around, staring at us in shock. By the look on Rosalie's face, she did not agree with Edward forgiving me.

I couldn't agree with her more.

"Edward…please…"

"It doesn't matter. In the end, you did the right thing. Whatever ill you wanted to do to us five minutes ago doesn't matter. At the last second, you changed your mind and saved everyone, Bella. We owe you our lives."

"Edward…do you think so poorly of me that you believe it was a last second decision?" I asked him at last.

"It doesn't matter," he repeated for the third time.

"Edward." I felt hysterical. Any minute I was going to explode from the pressure of the lies that surrounded me. "Edward," I tried again. "I had this planned from the beginning."

"What?" He stepped back, looking into my hideously bright crimson eyes. "I don't…understand."

"I love you." I whispered. "Don't feel obligated to forgive me for what I'm about to show you."

I released the protective band around my mind and let my memories tell Edward the truth.

That night in the forest with Edward, when we had first learned that the end was inevitable. The idea had occurred to me to do the opposite of what Alice's vision had shown. Namely, that the Volturi would want to kill me first. If there was some way I could change that, I thought, perhaps we had a chance.

I showed Edward my memories of the inner torture I went under that night as I came up with my plan to fool everyone into thinking that _my_ life was more important to me than anything. The absurdity of it. To avoid Alice's detection, I was constantly revising and making other random decisions. An easy thing to do after years of practice.

Edward was allowed to see my private worry that the Volturi would not even hear me out before they executed me. Then my further plot for if they didn't.

I knew that doom was inevitable no matter what I said to the Volturi, so I told them every secret I knew. It broke my heart to pretend that my grandson, Will, was an abomination. He was more precious than my own life.

Yet, I knew that if I did tell them of Will, they would see my betrayal to my family as a sure thing. Not something I would back out on. They thought my story about immortality was perfectly logical, because that was what was most important to them. Aro ate up my lies gleefully.

I winced as I went on to my first taste of human blood. Oh, how Carlisle would be disappointed in me.

I needed Aro to trust me completely. I had had no intention of changing from my vegetarian diet when I went to Volterra. When the opportunity came, I jumped at my chance to prove myself to Aro. It worked better than I'd hoped.

The memories of the girl I'd murdered were painted with agony. I'd made it quick for her, snapping her neck before drinking from her. I chose her above all the other humans available, because she looked the most afraid. I wanted to make sure she had as painless a death as possible.

After that, I began to feel like the monster I was.

Edward would never love me anymore. My family would never want me again. My time in Volterra was spent entirely on praying that I died with the Volturi and that my plan would work.

Aro was so pleased with me, that when I suggested we leave the wives and a few select other members of the guard behind in Volterra, he agreed. What need did we have for them when _I _was on their side? He didn't doubt me for a second.

Lastly, I showed Edward my memory of asking for his and Alice's lives to be spared.

"I knew you would both say no." I admitted, speaking aloud finally. "I heard you say, 'Please, Bella' and I had to hear your voice, just one more time before I died. I added in Alice to make Aro believe I was doing it for the benefit of the guard." I paused, letting that sink in. "I waited to make the decision to not put my shield up until the last possible moment. I didn't want Alice to do anything to screw up my plan. The Volturi would have fled, making it harder to finish them off."

Edward was silent.

Alice wasn't. "Bella Marie Cullen! When did you get so good at acting!?"

I was baffled. "What?"

"I can already see us throwing you a hero party. What's done is done. So, I repeat, when did you get so good at acting?"

A wave of relief went through me. They were going to forgive me. And apparently continue to give me parties I didn't enjoy.

I grinned. "Let's just say I've been taking a lot of drama classes for the last decade."

Alice's musical laugh filled the air. A few chuckles joined her.

I looked around at my family and knew that everything was going to be fine. The vampires gathered around us would help keep away the need for another family like the Volturi to take power over our world. We would be at peace.

I saw my daughter bawling joyfully into Jake's chest, Will squashed in their arms, peeking out at me, glowing with glee.

We were safe.

"Even after 50 years," Edward said to me, "I do not understand the freaky way you think. I love you. Even if all those lies had been truth, I would still love you."

"You would love me…even if you thought I was a monster?" I wondered in amazement.

"Yes. Bella…I must confess. I stopped Tanya from attacking you before I had even realized your shield wasn't up." My mouth opened in awe. "Don't underestimate the torture it was, thinking that the woman I loved had betrayed me and everything I loved and stood for. And I loved you still."

"Idiot. I love you." I murmured, hugging him close. If this wasn't true love, I didn't know what was.

Emmett groaned in aggravation. "Can somebody PLEASE tell me what's going on?" Impatient as always.

"You're going to have to wait a few more minutes," Edward mumbled, tilting my face up for a long welcome back kiss.

*

**Author's Note:** So, that's all folks! This was my first attempt at a Twilight fic. I hope it wasn't too terrible. Review and tell me what you think – constructive criticism is welcome!

Thanks for reading!


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